Yesterday, I went down to Oxford to deliver 20 large canvases for my forthcoming exhibition at the O3 Gallery. There I found Helen and team busy preparing the space. I am really looking forward to the preview on Friday evening (the flyer has details).  Oxford is an extraordinary city full of stunning architecture. It was a welcome sunny day and I spent the afternoon wandering about the colleges, finding more inspiration for future canvases.

My time recently has been consumed in preparations for the exhibition (in between dealing with crises in the care of my ageing parents) and I haven’t been able to write very much in this blog for a while.  In trying to amend for that now, my intention is to write a few lines about each of the exhibited paintings over the course of that exhibition.

Susan Isaac – Bodleian Old Library on Catte Street, Oxford

I’ll start with this view of  the Bodleian Old Library on Catte Street.  In forming this composition, I very much liked the effect of the rusticated bands on the building to the left (part of Hertford College), enhancing the sense of perspective.  I also wanted to incorporate the curve of the pavement in order to soften the lines of the composition.  This is further developed by the low boundary wall with its railings delicately laced over the foreground area and overlain by the collection of bicycles. On the right, the Bodleian leads imposingly into the distance ending in a glimpse of the Radcliffe Camera, finally punctuated by the tower of the St Marys.